What is the the best Corvette engine, pound for pound, ever produced in terms of horse power and speed?

Answer 1

The current generation ZO6 engine..... over 500 BHP and still not quite a heavyweight.... plus it's only about a 70,000 (GBP) awesome!!!

Answer 2

The current LS7 is incredible, but there was another: RPO ZL1. This motor was installed into TWO Corvettes and 69 Camaros in 1969. It was a racing motor based on the L88 racing motor, but with a more radical camshaft, extra head bolt fittings, and a 427 cubic inch aluminum block. The entire motor weighed less than a 327 small block.

I have a ZL1 dyno report run by Chevrolet in 1968 indicating 575 gross hp @ 6800 rpm. The net rating was probably around 500-525 hp. I also have a dyno sheet for an L88 with the factory headers that showed 471 hp at the rear wheels. Motor Trend magazine dyno tested a 2006 Z06 and recorded somewhere around 450 rear wheel horsepower.

At the Chevrolet proving grounds, Zora Duntov once recorded a top speed of 185 mph in a 1969 L88 Corvette. The new Z06 has recorded 198 mph.

There's really no overall comparison, the new Z06 is a vastly superior car, but if we're ONLY looking at max hp, the ZL1 can still give any other production motor a run for its money.

Answer 3

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RE:
What is the the best Corvette engine, pound for pound, ever produced in terms of horse power and speed?

Answer 4

The tri-power rat engines were super powerful, but unless it was an aluminum block, it would far out weigh the current LS7 aluminum-block V8. It puts out an SAE-certified (Society of Automotive Engineers) 505 hp and 470 lb.-ft. of torque. Hand-built at the GM Performance Build Center in Wixom, Mich., the LS7 engine contains a litany of racing-derived components, such as an eight-quart dry-sump lubrication system, titanium valves and connecting rods, forged-steel crankshaft with six-bolt main bearings, high-profile cam, and Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) machined heads for better air/fuel flow. Even with its performance, the engine does not incur a federal government gas-guzzler penalty.

There are "special" engines developed and approved by GM throughout the years. Callaway, Gulstrand and Lingenfelter have been names associated with turbo and supercharger options.
Add a factory approved Lingenfelter twin turbo to an LS7 for 550-750 horsepower.

I think there were 5 or 6 all aluminum rats produced for racing. If this engine is acceptable, then the LS7R, made for the current Corvette factory teams would surpass it.

Answer 5

1962 started the 327. There were 4 options of that block. 250 HP, 300 HP 340 HP and the injected 360 HP. In later years, the 327 produced up to 375 HP. Not bad for a small block! Carburation and "Wild" camshaft will do amazing things. The problem? Only good for a few fast miles! The tamed down 350 with hydraulic lifters does not have that MEAN, rough ilde, but they lasted so much longer. Just a little reminiscing from an old fart who has a '62.

Answer 6

The engine in the ZR1 vette. Had to be rev limited because the accessory belt kept coming apart. A little tweeking to releive that problem with some underdrive pulleys, a chip to eliminate the rev limiter and you've got an engine that will rev to almost 10,000 rpm. The HP numbers are about as high as current Z06 numbers, but the RPMs will leave almost anything behind on top end runs.

Answer 7

Best Corvette For The Money

Answer 8

Speed race is correct...The ZR1 corvette had a tweeked LT4 motor in it that produced 450 horsepower and 490 ft/lbs of torque...this is out of a 350 LT block...which if you compare it to the new LS7 it is pound for pound better.

Answer 9

It is without a doubt, Sugar Ray Robinson. He had everything that a quality fighter should have, and then some. He also fought during one of the toughest eras in middleweight history and he beat all of the top middleweights of his era because he was never afraid to fight the top contenders. Whats even more astonishing is that a lot of his career-defining wins came when he was past his prime; he was at his peak when he was welterweight champ and when he first moved up to middleweight. Muhammad Ali said that he considers himself the greatest heavyweight of all time, but he stated that his idol, Sugar Ray Robinson was the best pound for pound fighter of all time. Sugar Ray Leonard also said that there is no comparison between him and Robinson because Robinson was the greatest.

Answer 10

I'm thinking the 427 engine. Maybe pound for pound if you consider engine factor the 327Cube 375 HP engine.

Answer 11

D1989 Calloway put twin turbos on a vette 350 and broke an endurance sustainable speed for 24 hrs originally set in 1936 by the makers of the Cord(Duesenberg, American made) of Indiana. Think about it , a record set in '36"